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Isn't it possible that mirror neurons are ... nothing special ? In the sense that they're not different at all from any other neuron, they just happen to be loc

Isn't it possible that mirror neurons are ... nothing special ? In the sense that they're not different at all from any other neuron, they just happen to be located in places where they encode very high-level concepts. For instance, in deep reinforcement learning, you have ... let's say "half-mirror neurons", in the sense that they fire when the network is trying to execute an action and when it is placed in that action, then they fire just the same. Neurons are unary. They fire when they observe some high-level concept happening. Doesn't it make sense that once you go high-level enough ... it doesn't matter anymore whether it's "local" or not.

amelius 9y ago
Yes, this made me think of the story about how a biologist would identify the function of parts in a radio, posted here some time ago, [1]. > A more successful approach will be to remove components one at a time or to use a variation of the method, in which a radio is shot at a close range with metal particles. In the latter case, radios that malfunction (have a “phenotype”) are selected to identify the component whose damage causes the phenotype. Although removing some components will have only an attenuating effect, a lucky postdoc will accidentally find a wire whose deficiency will stop the music completely. The jubilant fellow will name the wire Serendipitously Recovered Component (SRC) and then find that SRC is required because it is the only link between a long extendable object and the rest of the radio. The object will be appropriately named the Most Important Component (MIC) of the radio. A series of studies will definitively establish that MIC should be made of metal and the longer the object is the better, which would provide an evolutionary explanation for the finding that the object is extendable. [1] https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20fix%20radio.pdf https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20f...

amelius 9y ago

Yes, this made me think of the story about how a biologist would identify the function of parts in a radio, posted here some time ago, [1]. > A more successful approach will be to remove components one at a time or to use a variation of the method, in which a radio is shot at a close range with metal particles. In the latter case, radios that malfunction (have a “phenotype”) are selected to identify the component whose damage causes the phenotype. Although removing some components will have only an attenuating effect, a lucky postdoc will accidentally find a wire whose deficiency will stop the music completely. The jubilant fellow will name the wire Serendipitously Recovered Component (SRC) and then find that SRC is required because it is the only link between a long extendable object and the rest of the radio. The object will be appropriately named the Most Important Component (MIC) of the radio. A series of studies will definitively establish that MIC should be made of metal and the longer the object is the better, which would provide an evolutionary explanation for the finding that the object is extendable. [1] https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20fix%20radio.pdf https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20f...